Nurturing Life
Text
English translation
Original Chinese text
吾生也有涯,而知也无涯。以有涯随无涯,殆已!已而为知者,殆而已矣!为善无近名,为恶无近刑,缘督以为经,可以保身,可以全生,可以养亲,可以尽年。
English translation
My life has a limit, but knowledge has no limit. To use the limited to pursue the limitless—perilous indeed! And if, being already like this, one still pursues knowledge, it is merely danger. In doing good, do not draw near fame; in doing evil, do not draw near punishment. Take following the middle course as the constant: one can protect the body, preserve life, nourish one's kin, and live out one's years.
Original Chinese text
庖丁为文惠君解牛,手之所触,肩之所倚,足之所履,膝之所踦,砉然响然,奏刀騞然,莫不中音。合于《桑林》之舞,乃中《经首》之会。
English translation
Cook Ding was butchering an ox for Lord Wenhui. Where his hand touched, where his shoulder leaned, where his foot trod, where his knee pressed, there were sounds—swish and ring—and as he advanced the knife, whoosh—none failed to hit the notes. It matched the dance of Sanglin and hit the cadence of Jingshou.
Original Chinese text
文惠君曰:“嘻,善哉!技盍至此乎?”
English translation
Lord Wenhui said, 'Ah! How excellent! How could skill reach such a point?'
Original Chinese text
庖丁释刀对曰:“臣之所好者道也,进乎技矣。始臣之解牛之时,所见无非全牛者;三年之后,未尝见全牛也;方今之时,臣以神遇而不以目视,官知止而神欲行。依乎天理,批大郤,导大窾,因其固然。
English translation
Cook Ding laid down his knife and replied: 'What I love is the Way; it has advanced beyond skill. When I first began butchering oxen, what I saw was nothing but a whole ox. After three years, I never again saw a whole ox. Now I meet it with my spirit and do not look with my eyes; my senses halt and my spirit wishes to proceed. I follow the heavenly pattern, strike the great crevices, guide through the great hollows, and accord with what is inherently so.'
Original Chinese text
技经肯綮之未尝,而况大軱乎!良庖岁更刀,割也;族庖月更刀,折也;今臣之刀十九年矣,所解数千牛矣,而刀刃若新发于硎。彼节者有间而刀刃者无厚,以无厚入有间,恢恢乎其于游刃必有余地矣。
English translation
I have never even touched the places where sinews and tendons meet or where flesh and bone join, let alone the great bones! A good cook changes his knife once a year because he cuts with it; an ordinary cook changes his knife every month because he hacks with it. Now this knife of mine has been used for nineteen years and has carved up several thousand oxen, yet its blade is as if newly ground from the whetstone. The joints have spaces, and the blade has no thickness. Inserting what has no thickness into what has spaces, there is ample room—so broad and easy that the blade must have more than enough space to move.
Original Chinese text
是以十九年而刀刃若新发于硎。虽然,每至于族,吾见其难为,怵然为戒,视为止,行为迟,动刀甚微,謋然已解,如土委地。提刀而立,为之四顾,为之踌躇满志,善刀而藏之。”
English translation
That is why, after nineteen years, the blade is still as if newly ground from the whetstone. Nevertheless, whenever I come to a clustered tangle, I see how hard it will be to handle. I become cautious with alarm, my gaze halts, my movements slow. I move the knife very slightly, and with a sudden sound it has already come apart, like earth crumbling to the ground. I lift the knife and stand, look around on account of it, take satisfaction in what I have done, then wipe the knife clean and put it away.
Original Chinese text
文惠君曰:“善哉!吾闻庖丁之言,得养生焉。”
English translation
Lord Wenhui said, “Excellent! Having heard Cook Ding’s words, I have learned how to nourish life.”
Original Chinese text
公文轩见右师而惊曰:“是何人也?恶乎介也?天与?其人与?”
English translation
Gongwen Xuan saw the Right Master and said in astonishment, “What sort of person is this? How is he one-footed? Was it Heaven? Or was it man?”
Original Chinese text
曰:“天也,非人也。天之生是使独也,人之貌有与也。以是知其天也,非人也。”
English translation
It was Heaven, not human action. Heaven brought him into life with one leg; the human form has two legs together. From this one can see that it was Heaven's doing, not a person's.
Original Chinese text
泽雉十步一啄,百步一饮,不蕲畜乎樊中。神虽王,不善也。
English translation
The marsh pheasant takes a peck every ten steps and a drink every hundred, yet it does not seek to be kept in a cage. Even if its spirit would be vigorous there, it would not be a good thing.
Original Chinese text
老聃死,秦佚吊之,三号而出。弟子曰:“非夫子之友邪?”
English translation
Lao Dan died. Qin Yi went to mourn him, wailed three times, and came out. The disciples said, ‘Were you not a friend of the Master?’
Original Chinese text
曰:“然。”
English translation
He said, ‘Yes.’
Original Chinese text
“然则吊焉若此可乎?”
English translation
If so, then may one offer condolences in this way?
Original Chinese text
曰:“然。始也吾以为其人也,而今非也。向吾入而吊焉,有老者哭之,如哭其子;少者哭之,如哭其母。彼其所以会之,必有不蕲言而言,不蕲哭而哭者。是遁天倍情,忘其所受,古者谓之遁天之刑。
English translation
He replied, “Yes. I had thought those present understood the way of life and death; seeing their mourning now, I know they did not. When I went in, old people wept for Lao Dan as for their child, and young people as for their mother. The reason they gathered must be that some spoke when they had not meant to speak, and wept when they had not meant to weep. This is to turn from what Heaven allots, go against one's feelings, and forget what one has received. The ancients called it the penalty of fleeing Heaven.
Original Chinese text
适来,夫子时也;适去,夫子顺也。安时而处顺,哀乐不能入也,古者谓是帝之悬解。”
English translation
“His coming was timely; his going followed the course of change. At ease with the time and with what follows, he was not overwhelmed by grief or joy. The ancients called this di zhi xuan jie—a release from the bonds that suspend life.”
Original Chinese text
指穷于为薪,火传也,不知其尽也。
English translation
One piece of firewood is eventually consumed, yet the fire is passed on; no one knows when it will end.